Chapter 69 - Anna's Proposal Please Follow
Chapter 69 of "Farming in a Parallel World and Becoming a God" starts with thrilling twists: Since the topic of farming came up, Gaven took the opportunity to clarify, âOur current... Continue the story!
Since the topic of farming came up, Gaven took the opportunity to clarify, âOur current reliance on imported food is only a temporary solution.Entrusting our basic sustenance to others is always a risky moveâitâs all too easy for them to exploit our vulnerabilities.
Expanding our cultivation is something we must do immediately.
In ten days, it will be the ideal time for planting, but itâs already too late to start clearing new fields.â
âSince we canât till the land meticulously, weâll have to sow broadly and plant in the wild.
When the next caravan arrives, several carts will be full of grain seeds.
Gos, you need to make sure you distinguish them clearly and donât end up eating the seeds.
Then youâll lead several teams with me into the mountains to plant the seeds.
As long as we plant them, weâll reap something.â
This plan was not something Gaven had come up with on the fly; he had a detailed strategy laid out.
The Rocklands are complex in terrain, not barren lands.
While they lack the widespread river flats of the plains, there are still numerous small plots of tillable land on the more gentle slopes and valley flats.
The Gnolls and Goblins arenât entirely non-agricultural eitherâthe Blackwell Tribe has its own cultivated land by the small river flat.
Compared to the meticulous farming of Humans, they employ a rough style of cultivation that doesnât concern itself with seeding, irrigation, weeding, or pest control.
How much they harvest in the end entirely depends on the weather.
Given the current conditions, all Gaven could do was adopt the Gnollsâ method of farming, but on a much larger scaleânot just planting every hill surrounding the Blackwell Tribe but anywhere they could gather grain seeds.
After all, it was unclaimed land; who knew how many people the Blackwell Tribe would have come winter.
The crops Gaven planned to plant were not grains that require rich soil but rather vine vegetables, potatoes, and other root crops.
These crops all share one common feature: they have high yields, are hardy, and require minimal care.
As long as the weather isnât too severe, their harvest tends to be reliable.
They can serve as both grain and vegetables and are easy to store, especially in the Gnollsâ mine shafts, which are excellent storage environmentsâthey could keep from this summer to the next without spoiling.
Gaven knew he wouldnât get much input from them on this matter, so he skipped over it quickly, his gaze still on Zack.
Zack shook his head hastily, âLeader, the only thing I can think of right now is these two suggestions, why donât you ask the others first, and Iâll keep thinking.â
âAlright.â Gaven knew better than to press a single person for more ideas; his gaze swept over everyoneâs faces, âWhat about you all?â
âIâŚIâŚI have one ideaâŚ
Iâm not sure if it counts.â The Maiden Priestess carefully raised her hand, her old nervous habit kicking in.
âOh?â Gaven perked up, focusing on Anna with renewed interest, âLetâs hear it.â
âIâŚI would like to build a churchâŚ
A church of IlmaterâŚ
I want to guide any interested GnollsâŚ
onto the path of the God of Sufferingâs faith.â Being the center of attention made the Maiden Priestess even more nervous, and beads of sweat began to roll down her round forehead.
âDoes the God of Suffering accept followers from other humanoid races?â asked Gaven, somewhat surprised.
âIlmater is the God of Mercy.
As long as one follows his path, he does not concern himself with oneâs racial origin,â Anna replied, her nervousness noticeably lessened as she spoke of her faith, âWe should not use our own narrow vision to guess at a deityâs heart.â
Gaven found the Maiden Priestessâs explanation quite convincing, especially given the change in faith that occurred just last year.
The strength of the gods no longer depended directly on their clerics but was instead directly correlated to the number of followers they had in the Material Plane.
In simple terms, the more followers a deity had, the more powerful they became, and vice versa.
If a deity lost all followers on the Material Plane, it would mark their downfall.
The gods, eager to expand their following, certainly wouldnât mind the racial background of their devotees.
Gaven didnât answer Anna directly but instead turned his gaze to the four Gnolls, âWhat do you think about this?
Does it conflict with your original beliefs?â
âIt doesnât conflict.
Kulturmak is only our Guardian, not entirely our faith.â
âFaith is a personal freedom; we wonât interfere.â
The four gnolls didnât show much change in expression, evidently not averse to the idea.
âSince that is the case, go ahead with it.
The church is a simple matterâstart by digging a cave dwelling like mine to make do.
As long as your faith is devout, even a small statue will allow the God of Suffering to hear your prayers,â Gaven naturally wouldnât oppose the idea.
Ilmater was a famously lawful and good deity, and most who were cultivated in this church would be healers, a type of priest he could never have too many of.
Turning his head, Gaven gave Anna a new task, âSince teaching them doctrines and prayers will definitely require literacy, why not start a literacy class within your church to teach the gnoll youths Common speech?â
âEven if Mr.
Gaven hadnât mentioned it, I would have done it,â the maiden priestess was eager to be a mentor and took great interest in such matters.
âNot just the gnoll youths, but the adults need to learn to read and write in Common as well, especially you four.
From now on, in addition to your work, you have the task of learning ten Common words every day, and I will conduct regular inspections.â
âUnderstood.â
Upon hearing that they were to learn Common speech, some were excited and interested, while others drooped their heads in disinterest.
âThat includes you, Hou. Ná´w novel chapters are publÉŞshed on É´o(v)elFÉŞre.É´et
Your task is increased to twenty words a day.â
âAhâŚâ Hearing his own name, the half-ogre instinctively stood up, drooling half a foot long, and said in a daze, âSir, what is it?â
Gavenâs eye twitched slightly, and he repeated his command, âIn addition to training, learn twenty Common words each day.
Anna will teach you.â
âAh?
Ah!â The half-ogreâs eyes widened, and he touched his bald head in confusion, âWhy do I need to learn to read?â
âIf I tell you to learn, you learn.
For every word you miss, youâll get one less bowl of food,â Gaven wasnât in the mood to explain.
âUnderstood.â The half-ogre, with a conflicted expression, sat back down and exchanged a look with the Goblin Sorcerer, who was still puffing up his cheeks.
Thinking about those Common words they recognized but he couldnât recall, he completely lost the urge to sleep.
âNext item on the agenda, who has one?â
âI do, I do,â Cangya couldnât hold back, and said.
âSpeak.â
âI think we should domesticate ferocious minks and form a Ferocious Mink Cavalry,â Cangya naturally started with what he knew bestâthe military.
âNot a bad idea, but where would these Ferocious Minks come from?â Gaven, of course, knew the value of a cavalry, even if they were expensive, it would be worth it.
âThisâŚâ Clearly Cangya hadnât thought of this problem, and hesitantly answered, âWe could search and capture them in the wild, then bring them back for domestication.â
âWhile thatâs one method, itâs not very efficient,â Gaven shook his head, âKeep an eye out during your field training, see if there are Ferocious Minks in the vicinity.
Donât force it.
Iâll also contact human merchants and see if thereâs a channel, but donât keep your hopes too high.
Ferocious Mink mounts arenât popular among humans; on the contrary, pony mounts are not difficult to come by in bulk.
As a compromise, Iâll find a way to get you a batch of ponies.
Train with them first, and if thereâs a chance in the future, we can try to get Ferocious Minks.â
Due to their burrowing nature, gnolls and ferocious minks got along well and were natural partners.
Ferocious Mink Cavalry was a unique troop type of the Gnoll Tribe.
Few goblins rode ferocious minks, just as few gnolls rode Zuo Lang wolves.
Yet, with so many gnoll tribes coming to join, not a single Ferocious Mink had been seen, indicating that this region didnât produce them much.
To obtain them, one would have to find a way through other gnoll tribes, whether by assimilation or trade.